ECOE is working on new potential solar power generation sites
Exeter Community Energy (ECOE) is moving towards rolling out at least two new electricity sites in the city. We have surveyed roofs owned by a large local institution before starting legal talks. The surveys have shown that the roofs should be strong enough to hold the solar panels we want to put on them.
There are a few other possible sites that could join this ‘solar PV4’ phase of our business. Formerly we worked on roofs of community buildings, and that is mostly the case this time too. However, the Power Allotments project could find some ground-mounted solar sites for us to work on. What’s more, Power Allotments wants your help to find such sites. So, if you know of any promising fields, tell Power Allotments about them here, and you could be helping ECOE.
ECOE is also working to get grant funds to prepare to raise the money we’ll need for the work. We want to run a new share offering to bring in new members from our local areas. So far, we think this will happen in the first half of 2023. Moreover, this should be an open share offering that will make it easier for new members to join in future. We’ll be looking to raise over £100,000 in shares that will earn the same interest rates as our original offering. In addition, we are recruiting project manager for the work, subject to our grant application succeeding. Indeed, we are advertising for the role now. With this in mind, we will keep you updated as we progress.
